


Confrontation.

by MirTheOne



Series: Stolen Tethers and Woven Threads [2]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Family Issues, Gen, I'm so shit at tagging, Isolation, It's not dark but yeah beware the tags ok, Manipulation, Panic Attacks, Post-Betrayal, be safe yall, mentions of - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-17 06:08:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28844334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MirTheOne/pseuds/MirTheOne
Summary: Dream confronts Purpled on his betrayal during the Manberg-Pogtopia war
Relationships: Clay | Dream & Grayson | Purpled (Video Blogging RPF)
Series: Stolen Tethers and Woven Threads [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2030716
Comments: 16
Kudos: 176





	Confrontation.

**Author's Note:**

> aha not me skipping straight to the last story in the series bc it's two months late to the party already
> 
> beta read by the awesome [Kyuukoi,](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kyuukoi/pseuds/Kyuukoi) go check her out :)

When the first thing he saw after leaving his cabin was Dream in full netherite armor, Purpled couldn’t say that he was surprised.

Of course he would confront him after Purpled’s little ‘betrayal.’

It wasn’t as if he couldn’t see the tense lines in Dream’s shoulders when he saw Purpled among the people surrounding him, weapons out and pointed at the green-clad man.

“Hello Purpled,” Dream said. As always, he seemed relaxed to any onlooker. But Purpled knew better. His voice was calm, yes, but it carried the same tone of calm he always had before he inevitably snapped and beat down the target of his anger.

The calm before the storm, if you will.

Realizing that Dream was expecting him to reply, Purpled took a deep breath, steeling his nerves.

“Hi Dream.”

_Prime_ , how he ached to pull his sword out of his inventory and ran back inside to safety.

“Nice cabin,” Dream hummed, cocking his head. “I like your UFO better though.”

Purpled shrugged, body still tense and wound up, ready to run at any second.

“What can I say, I wanted a change of pace. What’s the matter with that?” he bit back any spiteful sarcasm he wanted to spit at Dream. It wouldn’t do to piss him off this soon.

“Well, there’s nothing wrong with _that_.” Dream stalked towards him like a predator towards its prey, and Purpled fought back the urge to _run run run run run-_

“Is turning your back on me part of this… ‘change of pace’ too?”

Purpled dug his nails into his palms. And there it was. The million dollar question. The question he didn’t know how to truthfully answer.

“I had to,” he snarled. “Technoblade, Fundy, _and_ Tommy were on my tail. Technoblade had several dozen rocket arrows. If I didn’t switch sides, I would’ve _died._ ”

“No, I don’t think that’s what this is about.” Purpled could _feel_ Dream’s poisonous glare through his mask. “You could’ve stayed out of the war, but you didn’t. Instead you joined - against my wishes, by the way - just to switch sides at the last second.”

_You don’t control me._

“Don’t you _dare_ think I didn’t see you burning that shield,” he continued. “This wasn’t something done in the heat of the moment. This was deliberate and pre-planned.”

Fuck, Dream really knew everything, huh?

“What are you saying?” Purpled cursed the tremble in his voice. He’s trying so _hard_ not to show it, but right now, he was _scared._ Scared of Dream, of this godlike bastard in front of him.

Of his own _brother._

“I’m saying you made a deal with them.” Dream’s voice stayed calm and casual, yet there’s now an audible _edge_ to it. “You wanted something, and they promised to give it to you.”

“You’re delusional.”

“No, I don’t think I am.” Dream tucked his hands into his hoodie’s pockets, leaning right into Purpled’s space, and Purpled swore the air temperature dropped. “What did they promise you, Purpled?”

“ _Nothing,_ ” he hissed in reply. “They never promised me anything.”

Dream laughed. It wasn’t his cheerful one though, nor was it his signature wheeze. No, this laugh was cold and sarcastic, filled to the brim with menace.

“Oh, come on,” Dream said, straightening up. Purpled could imagine the cold smile under face, the way his green eyes narrowed at him. “Let’s not be liars here.”

“I’m not lying!” Purpled snapped. In front of him, Dream scoffed. “Look, I- I did what I had to, okay? I didn’t want to die, _especially_ by rockets, and it wasn’t as if you were still actually _trying_ to fight back anyway-”

“Do _not_ lie to me. I am the admin of this world, I can give you anything you want, so just _tell me what is it they promised you-_ ”

“They didn’t promise me anything-”

"What do you _want,_ Purpled?!" Dream’s tone rose, all pretense of calmness abandoned. "What do you want so _bad_ that you joined them?!" 

Purpled’s eyes swelled with the burden of unshed tears, threatening to spill over at any second. He clenched his fists tights, trying his best to calm his labored breath. Clay - no, _Dream_ had always been scary when he's mad. And right now, he was _very mad._

He's not the only one though. 

"I don't want anything!" The boy yelled back. " _Prime,_ you really can't comprehend someone doing something just because-" 

“Oh, shut up." Dream paced around, hands gesturing erratically. "I _know_ you, Purpled. You don't just _do_ things like this. You could’ve escaped, could’ve easily teleported away instead of switching sides, but you betrayed me. You _betrayed_ me, after all that trust I put in you. I _know you don’t betray people for nothing."_

_You don't know me,_ Purpled wanted to scream. _You haven't even talked to me since I left the UFO._

"You _wanted_ something, and they gave it to you." Dream's body snapped towards him, the empty eyes of his mask boring into Purpled's. "So what is it, huh? What is this _elusive_ thing that not even I can give you but they can?" 

"I want-" 

_A hand caressing his hair, a cheerful wheeze at his jokes-_

"TELL ME!" 

_Bright green eyes looking at him with fondness, a crooked and mischievous smile, a kind voice calling him **Grayson-**_

_He can't remember the last time Clay called him Grayson._

"I JUST WANT MY BROTHER BACK!"

Dream froze.

The air stilled.

Purpled breathed heavily, back hunched as he struggled to regain composure. His palm was bleeding now, he distantly realized, from how hard his nails were digging into his kin. 

He belatedly realized that he was _crying._

He never liked it when Dream saw him cry.

His brother moved, a hand reaching out to ~~comfort~~ ~~console~~ ~~soothe~~ grab him and Purpled flinched. Dream stopped, his hand hanging in the air.

“Purpled-”

“No.”

“Purpled, I’m always here-”

“NO!” He didn’t know where the sudden burst of courage came from, but he was done. Done staying in the shadows, done staying in silence, done with stupid Dream and done his stupid mask. “You’re never here anymore! Ever since you became an admin, you’re never here!”

“I don’t-”

“Shut up.” Purpled wiped at his tears with the sleeves of his hoodie. His body felt numb and his mind fuzzy, but _fuck it._ If he didn’t say it now, he’d never get the courage to say it again. “You- You changed, you bastard. You’re not him, not my brother, not anymore.”

When Dream stayed silent, Purpled continued, venom and spite mixed in his voice.

“You’re not _Clay._ Clay wouldn’t isolate me from my friends. Clay wouldn’t care for some kid who challenged him more than me. Clay wouldn’t ignore me for months and only talked to me because of a war. Clay wouldn’t treat me like a weapon.

“You’re _Dream._ You’re some- some _madman,_ drunk on power. You don’t care about me, you just care about playing god and going on a crusade against _anyone_ who stood against you. You don’t think I’m your _brother,_ Dream. I’m just one of your swords.”

His throat was hoarse, his eyes burned. His head spinned from the outburst. And yet Purpled stood his ground, staring into the lifeless ceramic mask covering Dream’s face. The man stood straight, arms hanging by his side. Cold, emotionless, unreadable. A perfect contrast of Purpled’s emotional and disheveled state.

Purpled breathed heavily. When he spoke next, his voice was barely a whimper.

“I’m just your weapon,” he whispered.

That seemed to set something off in Dream, as he tried to reach out to Purpled again. But he had enough. Purpled turned and teleported right back into his room, not even bothering to check if he locked the front door. Nearly immediately, he collapsed into a sobbing mess on the floor, legs messily tucked in front of his chest.

_Stupid Clay,_ he wanted to scream. _Stupid Clay and his stupid ambissions and his stupid ego-_

But his voice was all scratchy from yelling, so he settled for gripping his own hair tight, tears streaming down his face as he sobbed and gasped and everything was too loud and silent at the same time and his own hoodie felt too tight and suffocating around him-

Dogchamp barked softly and nuzzled his head to Purpled’s side, and for a moment, the swirling thoughts in his head _stopped._

Purpled lifted his head and looked at the dog by his side. Said dog whined sadly and nuzzled himself to Purpled once more, and Purpled gave in. He hugged Dogchamp tight, burying his face in his fur. Nice and comfortable. Calming. Purpled’s breath evened out, and eventually, his heart stopped feeling like it was beating out of his chest.

“Thanks buddy,” he muttered with a small smile. Dogchamp yipped in his arms.

_I need a break,_ he thought. Maybe he’ll head to Hypixel first thing tomorrow morning. It would be good to give himself some distance between the server and him. He missed his friends, 80 and Astelic and Sammy and Walli. He missed the safe thrill of Bedwars, so unlike the terror-inducing adrenaline of war. Besides, it wasn’t as if he had anyone who would miss him on the server.

He’d leave, and everything would be fine.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm gonna write the in-between stories of this series... One day....
> 
> Join the [MCYT Discord server!](https://discord.gg/qAt8tfg)


End file.
